The Words of the Hunter Family
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The Words of the Hunter Family |
Washington Center and her satellites were called to meet at Upshur House on the morning of December 11, 1971. Farley [Jones] had an important message: Our Leader, Mother, Mrs. [Won Pok] Choi, Mr. [Young Hwi] Kim and Mr. [Mitsuharu] Ishii were to arrive in Los Angeles that evening. While not immediately affected by this news, everyone, according to custom, armed themselves with buckets, mops, scrub brushes, paint and paint brushes, hammer and nails, etc., and set to work. Much was accomplished that weekend and work continued throughout the following week, during which time all were anxiously awaiting word of Our Leader's coming. Finally, on Friday evening, December 17, during a "leisurely" Family dinner, word came from Toronto that Our Leader and his Party would arrive the next day. So much for "leisurely" Family dinners. On Saturday, December 18, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Washington Family members assembled at Upshur House and formed a reception line that extended the length and width of the hall way and the north and south rooms. As Leader and his party started up the steps to enter the house, the Family began singing "you Are My Sunshine" and continued singing until Our Leader, Mother, Mrs. Choi, Mr. Kim and Mr. Ishii had finished greeting and shaking hands with everyone.
From that point on, the pace of living in Washington speeded up considerably. On the night of Our Leader's arrival, the Family sponsored a special dinner for friends and relatives who were also our guests at the final, command performance of "The Little Angels" at the Kennedy Center, the last stop of their 1971 world tour. Of course, Leader and Mother attended, as did most of the Family. The performance by "The Little Angels" was, as expected, outstanding, and friends and relatives were favorably impressed.
On the following Monday, Washington Family performed for Our Leader. The performance was presented in two parts-formal and informal, or more appropriately, rehearsed and unrehearsed. This, of course, meant that everyone had an opportunity to perform. you can imagine the variety of talent presented, and although the program was conducted in a somewhat "out-of-the ordinary" manner, many were moved to tears, for as on many Family get-togethers, the spirit was high and the bond of love felt strongly by everyone. The program concluded with Our Leader and Mother singing together and finally closing with Our Leader giving us his blessing.
Beginning on December 21 and continuing almost every night through December 30, Our Leader spoke to Family and quests. Some of the topics included: (1) How will the unified world be established; (2) How God is proceeding in the restoration process; {3) The history of the Unification Church; and (4) The importance of a Heavenly Heart. The meeting rooms of Upshur House were always filled to capacity. All talks and lectures were recorded on video-tape, so those who were unable to see Leader from the two main lecture rooms were able to see him on a television screen. Needless to say, all talks were very inspiring and most informative.
Especially newsworthy is what occurred at Upshur the night of December 30. Our Leader and Mr. Kim taught the Family how to play a Korean game, similar to our Parcheesi Game [Yute]. To mention the details of how the game is played would be too paper-consuming. What Our Leader did was to divide all participants into two camps--men vs. women. The women were delighted when Leader chose to be on their side. He urged them to victory by repeatedly saying, "Women must win! Women must win! Well, the women didn't win, but everyone had great fun playing, so much so that practically everyone stayed up till 2:30 a.m. the next morning.
This brings us to the special four-day training program lasting from Friday, December 31, to Monday, January 3. 1972, in which Mr. Kim taught the Principle as it is taught in Korea. Family members from Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Denver, Berkeley, and St. Louis attended. Mr. Kim at all times displayed the qualities of a good teacher-patient, sensitive, and always most willing to help and meet the needs of his students. We thank Mr. Kim for spending those four days with us.
The training period was scheduled to end on Sunday night, January 2, when members were to return to their respective centers. Our Leader, however, wanted to extend the training period. So, the meetings were carried over till January 3, and those who could stay, which was practically everyone, attended another day of lectures. By the time this issue is printed, you will all have heard about "The Plan" that came out of that weekend, for the idea behind the plan its realization were practically one in that the idea was implemented almost immediately. "The Plan" is to hold revival meetings in seven major cities-New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Berkeley. Both East and West Coast Centers are to select a certain number of members-75 altogether, who are to come to New York for a two-week training session. From there, they will travel from city to city on the East Coast to hold the revival meetings.
After the revival meetings on the East Coast are over, a bus team will be selected to travel across the country to hold similar meetings in the designated West Coast cities. More about the plan appears in this issue, and there will be more complete reports on the project in following issues.
Washington's closing note is this: Our love and prayers go to those in New York -- Our Leader, teachers, trainees, and anyone else who is working so hard to make the first revival meetings a huge success! "Save your nation!" exclaimed Our Leader as he outlined his plan to extend the Divine Principle to the fifty states. A few days later, more specific plans were unveiled. Miss Kim will travel on the East Coast bus, and David Kim will be on the West Coast bus. Marie Ang, Hillie Edwards, Diane Fernsler, Betsy Jones and Becky Salonen will assist the new field centers for one year.
The pioneers (as of January 20) are:
Berkeley
Nancy Callahan
Andy Compton
Leslie
Elliott
Geynell Frizzell
Alice Hellerstein
Susan
Hughes
Izilda Lima
Betsy O' Brian
Stephanie Schutz
Terry
Walton
Mark Whitman
Los Angeles
Judy Barnes
Jackie Brown
Suzanne
Cook
Perry Cordill
Nora Ervin
Gary Fleisher
Phillip
Foster
David Loew
Lisa Martinez
Sam Pell
Daniel
Stein
Ernest Stewart
Jim Waller
Susan Warner
Charles
Wright
New York
Jack Hart
Bunny Howe
Carolyn Libertini
Oakland
Richard Copeland
San Francisco
Michael Cardin
Ted Casten
Helen
Chin
Kathy Donovan
Susan Finnegan
Gilbert Fox
Herman
Graham
Jennine Hancock
Kathy Heney
Beverly Lee
Geraldine
Porcello
Sara Reinhardt
Melinda Skow
Becky Stillwell
Don
"Bobby" Wilson
Washington DC
Lorene Biddick
Faith Boyce
Marlene
Dudik
John Fitzpatrick
Kathy French
Marshall
Frothingham
Diane Frink
Kathy Goldman
John Harries
Nancy
Howe
Rick Hunter
Olivia Kerns
Patty Kieffer
Julie
Lewis
Patty McWilliams
Linda Marchant
Maureen Murphy
Richard
Parks
Margaret Pease
Joy Schmidt
Joseph Sheftick
Sandy
Singleton
Barbara Snell
Joe Stein
Peggy Warden
Roberta
Wilder
Peter Mullen